The Promised Reunion
by EarlGreyMT
Summary: After the incident at the Guertena Exhibition, Ib and Garry go on to fulfill their promise of reunion with the partaking of macarons at a quaint cafe. Little would they know that their meeting would spark off a renewed hope in a familiar person's heart. Credits to Kouri as the creator of the horror game "Ib". The cover is hand-drawn by myself. Hope you all enjoy it :)


**The Promised Reunion**

The warm summer breeze caressed their faces under the gentle heat of sunshine, as both of them sat at the quaint café. Sunshine… It felt really good to feel the warmth of a real sun. Just three days ago, both of them had been standing under a different kind of sun, one that not only gave out heat but also the sickening smell of crayons. Back at that place was a load of upsetting events and disturbing scenery. The young man with the shock of lavender-colored hair shuddered at the memory. Then he opened his eyes and was once again reassured that he and the girl were safe once again in the real world.

The young man smiled at the little girl sitting on the opposite side of the table.

"Are you enjoying the macarons, Ib?"

The girl nodded cheerfully. At the tender age of nine, she was surprisingly full of mettle and seemed almost unaffected by the past ordeal. But the young man knew that was not entirely true. He still remembered her talking of the bout of bad dreams during the incident. Still, she proved to be no ordinary young girl, displaying her courage and strength from time to time. He The man flushed as he recalled how she stayed so calm during the mannequin head mirror act, whilst he screamed as if there was no tomorrow.

"Mmm~ The maca...thingies are really good Garry! You should take some more for yourself before I eat them all up!"

"Oh alright Ib. Hahaha, you had better brush your teeth really well when you get home. All these macarons are really sweet and sticky. You wouldn't want to let all your teeth fall out would you now?"

The brown haired girl's maroon eyes grew wide and her dainty hands flew to cover her mouth at the warning that Garry gave her. Garry laughed and reassured little Ib that if she took good care of her teeth they would stay in her mouth permanently. She smiled to reveal her neat rows of teeth and continued to nibble on her macarons. It was an odd choice of flavors that she picked though - Strawberry, Blueberry and Lemon. Their colors comprised of Red, Blue… and Yellow. Just like the color of the roses that were tied to their health in the odd world of Guertena. Save for the Yellow Rose which belonged to the mysterious girl, Mary. Unlike their roses, Mary's rose was fake- an accurate mirroring of her false existence. Damaging her fake rose would not hurt her at all.

Garry wondered why Ib insisted to purchase the yellow macaron. Was it simply a wish to commemorate the meeting of Guertena's last piece of art, or had she taken a liking to the taste of lemons since she had loved the lemon-flavored candy he passed to her? He did not want to ask her; for fear that his question would trigger unhappy memories in her mind. All he could do was ponder over that question and hope that Ib would be okay whatever her thoughts were. Garry picked up his cup of hot Earl Grey milk tea and sipped on it to ease his worries. Suddenly, a young gentleman approached their table and addressed them.

"Good afternoon sir and miss! My name is Maxwell and I am an art student currently working on my final year project before I graduate. May I have the permission of paint a portrait of the both of you as my project piece, while you all continue your afternoon tea? I promise I wouldn't take long and that you can both continue moving and eating at ease."

Garry turned to look at Ib. She gave an almost quizzical expression, but there was no signs of discomfort whatsoever in her placid features.

"I will leave it to your choice Ib. Don't be afraid to tell the man no if you really don't want to."

Ib turned to the young gentleman and stared into his eyes for a brief moment.

"Okay, Mister Maxwell. You can paint our picture."

Maxwell beamed and eagerly thanked them both for acceding to his request. He quickly assembled his easel and set upon its frame a blank piece of canvas. He also produced paintbrushes of different sizes and a palette filled with a variety of colors from his satchel. And it was after then that he drew out the palette knife from the bag.

Garry instinctively flinched, and he turned to look at Ib. Ib was clutching onto the piece tablecloth at her side, her face etched with terror. She got off her chair and walked over to Garry's side and grasped tightly at his tattered coat. The sight of the palatte knife clearly triggered a sense of fear in the child, and Garry had to do something to protect her.

"Urhm. Excuse me, Maxwell is it? Ib here doesn't do well with seeing sharp objects around. Could you do without the palette knife for your art piece?"

Maxwell seemed surprised, but did not question upon seeing the frightened child. He nodded and kept the palette knife back into his satchel. Ib's grip relaxed and she made her way back to her chair, still eyeing Maxwell with caution. Garry reached over to smooth his hand over her head and reassured her of her safety with him. The child sighed and then shifted her attention back to her colorful treats. She shifted about uncomfortably in her seat, wary of being watched by the artist. Maxwell smiled at her and chimed in,

"Oh don't worry about anything little girl! Just pretend that I'm not here alright?"

_ That's easier said than done…Maybe it was bad idea letting this guy paint his picture._

Garry thought to himself, feeling the steely gaze of the artist as he skillfully mixed his colors and dabbed the paintbrushes onto the canvas. But he knew he could not let Ib feel his discomfort lest she would too feel increasingly uneasy, so Garry attempted to make further conversation with her.

"Hey Ib, I've washed your handkerchief already. Thankfully the stain could be removed. Thanks for letting me hold on to your hanky for all this while."

"You're welcome."

Ib kept silent again, gazing down at the macarons and fiddling at her dessert fork.

"You know Ib, she can't hurt you anymore. We made sure of that when we were in her world. We are back in the real world now. And you have your parents and I to protect you. Don't let her continue to make you feel scared okay?"

She looked up at Garry, and the lavender-haired man gave her the best smile he could muster. And then without warning, the girl exploded into peals of laughter, which proved to be very unsettling to the man.

"What? What's the matter Ib?"

"Garry! Your teeth! They have maca-thingies stuck in-between them!"

And so Garry felt the tense atmosphere disappear right at that very moment and a great sense of relief settled over him. He was now even more certain that macarons were the best kind of food in the world. They looked great, tasted great and now even had that power to make his little friend laugh and smile again. Then the young man and the girl spent the next few hours talking of more macarons and about the fluffy bunny rabbits that the girl loved so much.

It was not until 4 o'clock that Maxwell finished with his art piece. He got up to thank the pair and hurriedly packed up his belongings so as not to disturb them any further. But it was also time for Ib to leave, so Garry settled the café bill and walked out of the café hand in hand with Ib.

"Garry."

"Yes Ib?"

"Could we come again for maca-thingies tomorrow? I like going out with you. And I like maca-thingies."

"Well maybe not tomorrow, but perhaps next week? You don't want to eat so many macarons at one go. They are bad for your teeth remember?"

Ib giggled and looked up at Garry, the golden rays of the late afternoon sunlight illuminating her delicate maroon eyes and lovely soft brown hair. His companion's gaze made his heart melt, and the corners of his mouth curled into a kind smile. He gently tightened his grip on her tiny hand and cleared his line of vision with a quick turn of his head, sweeping the curtain of lavender hair away from his eyes.

"Don't you worry Ib. We will meet many more times again for the café macarons, because we are the best of friends."

As he observed the odd pair walking down the street, Maxwell who was headed in the opposite direction could not help but feel a warm sense of happiness upon seeing them talking and smiling. They reminded him a lot of his relationship between him and his little sister back when they were a few years younger. The artist turned his head back to focus on his route and whistled a happy tune as he walked briskly back to his apartment. He had finished his last piece of schoolwork: his very first professional piece of art, and he was really pleased. When he got home, he took his favorite felt-tipped pen and signed his initials onto his workpiece before sealing it up for submission. On the bottom right corner of the portrait, the cursive initials neatly and carefully written there reflected:

"_**M. Guertena**__"_

* * *

*************************10 Years Later*************************

* * *

**Flyer:  
**THE WORKS OF GUERTENA: THE FIRST AND THE THIRD

The Museum of Grand Arts is proud to present to the public the new and improved Guertena Exhibit. The works of the Great Guertena have longed been celebrated and loved by many art appreciators and now his grandson, Sir Maxwell Guertena, has added his timeless pieces to his grandfather's exhibit. Sir Maxwell Guertena has carried on the legacy of his grandfather, producing exquisite works that also carries the same painting style as that of the late Guertena. Sir Maxwell Guertena however, prefers painting portraits based on the observation of real people. His first renowned piece, "Afternoon Macarons", is also on display at the Museum.

So head on down to the Museum to revisit the "Abyss of the Deep" and see many more classic Guertena pieces. Tickets are now going at a discounted price of $40, until the 21st of July.

* * *

Back in abyss of the Fabricated World, the little blue dolls had just finished the Gallery's restorations. Everything that Ib and Garry had accidentally or purposely broken in their world had been fixed and put back in place. This also included the last painting that the late Guertena finished before his unfortunate passing; the painting that Ib and Garry destroyed with fire. Once the portrait had been encased in a glass frame and hung back onto the crayon-scribbled walls by the hardworking blue dolls, a crouching petite figure rematerialized on the ground. Tears fell from the figure's deep blue eyes as her entire body was wrecked with half-sobs. The honey-blonde girl rose to her feet, tears streaming down her porcelain features and dripping onto the hem of her rich forest-green dress.

_*Ib… Garry… Both of you have betrayed and hurt me. You were the only real friends I had here. And now you have all left me all alone… Mary is all alone once again.*_

The chief blue doll ran to the girl's side and bounced up and down. Though it made no audible sound, the girl was able to understand the message that the doll was trying to convey.

_ What…? There are new additions to our family? But I don't understand. Father… He left us a long time ago, so there can't possibly be new additions! But since you insist, I will go to see these "newcomers"._

Mary grabbed her palette knife and proceeded cautiously along the corridors of the Gallery. If these "newcomers" were going to be a threat to her, she would be prepared to deal with them. She moved soundlessly along the carpeted flooring and stopped only when she had found that the flooring had changed. Instead of carpet, the floor was now tiled with smooth marble. She could not understand. As the resident of the Fabricated World she would know every nook and cranny of the Gallery, and yet this room was not familiar to her at all. It seemed that the Gallery now had a new room.

The lighting was surprisingly pleasant in this enclosed area. Mary walked into the room slowly, taking note of every new painting that hung inside the room. Every painting seemed to revolve around the subject of people. Not imaginary people like the Painted Ladies who all shared the same features, but people of different shapes and colors. And just like the other works of her father, these painted people were able to move around in the portrait and step out of the portrait as well. A few of the painted people had already begun to socialize with each other out of their portrait frames. Mary gazed at her new surroundings in awe. Was she experiencing the phenomenon that she read about in a book that she had? Was this what the people in the other world called a _Dream_?

Suddenly, Mary's attention was drawn towards one of the painted persons. The painted person stood in front of a large canvas and was looking intently at the painted scenery. She had silky brown hair and was dressed in a simple white long-sleeved shirt and a red skirt. Mary's mouth went dry. There was no mistaking it, that painted girl looked exactly like…

"Ib…?"

The painted girl turned to face Mary, with a puzzled look on her face.

"Hi… Urhm are you talking to me? Well, that's not my name though. My name is Afternoon. And this here is my big brother Macarons."

The Ib-lookalike gestured to a young painted man who was wearing a navy coat with tattered ends. The man had locks of lavender-colored hair, with most of his fringe falling over his left eye. Mary drew in a sharp breath and whipped out her palette knife menacingly upon seeing the man. She was not going to let Ib and Garry hurt her again. The young man however did not flinch upon seeing her threatening pose and approached her with a warm smile.

"Hello. You must be Mistress Mary. Pleased to meet you, my name is Macarons. Well actually the both of us here were not given any names, so we simply took the words from our portrait title and gave names to ourselves for easier reference."

"Your… portrait?"

"Yes. Afternoon and I come from this portrait. Everyone here in this room is relatively new around in the Fabricated World only because our father, Sir Maxwell Guertena, just added us to the Gallery. If I am not mistaken, Mistress Mary's father is the predecessor of our father."

Mary glanced at the portrait that Macarons was talking about. There in that portrait featured a painting of a small café, complete with dainty chairs and a table filled with wonderful colored goodies and a pot of steaming tea. There were also rows of rose bushes surrounding the café, each bush featuring differently colored roses: Red, Blue and Yellow. A bright yellow sun also hung in the deep blue sky, with tufts of clouds scattered all around. It looked every bit like how Mary's books have described about the real world. And it was all Mary ever dreamed of experiencing.

The blonde gingerly touched the title plate of Afternoon's and Macarons' portrait world and read the words:

* * *

_AFTERNOON MACARONS_

_Sir M. Guertena's first piece of XXX art. It is said to be his final project piece back when he was still studying at the Maria Glodey's XXX of the Arts, and the piece that soared him to fame. The painting XXX a young man and a girl having afternoon tea at a XXX café. Sir M. Guertena was XXX moved to paint the couple because it reminded him of his relationship with his XXX sister, Marriane Guertena._

* * *

It frustrated Mary that she could not read all the words describing the painting, but there was nothing that she could do about it. As she stared wistfully at the painting, the Ib-lookalike reached out her hand to touch Mary's.

"It's time for tea again! Would you like to join my brother and I for hamburger candies and tea? I like you, Mistress Mary, and I hope that we can be friends."

Mary looked up at the Ib and Garry-lookalikes, and found herself tearing. But it was a different feeling altogether now. She was crying because she was happy. It was a new experience, but nonetheless one that she had read about in her many books about the real world. She beamed at Afternoon and Macarons.

_*Yes, we'll be the best of friends. Because this time I am certain that with them we would be_

_Together Forever*_


End file.
